Artem Dzyuba found a warm place – Newspaper Kommersant No. 149 (7350) of 08/17/2022

One of the main transfer intrigues of this summer, associated with the famous Russian football player Artem Dzyuba, is nearing resolution. The striker, who left Zenit last spring in search of a new team, has finally received an official contract offer of €1.5 million a year from the Turkish middle club Adana Demirspor. There, Dziuba, if the deal, of course, goes through, will be able to reunite with former Zenit partner Ukrainian defender Yaroslav Rakitsky.

The fact that the domestic striker Artem Dziuba is close to moving to Adana Demirspor was announced by the sports director of the Turkish club Gekkhan Gekturk. The team management offered the ex-forward of Zenit a very attractive contract, according to which he claims “Sport-Express”will receive €150 thousand per month, or, in other words, €1.5 million per year.

33-year-old Artem Dzyuba, who has been playing for Zenit since 2015, received the status of a free agent in March.

Then he, dressed in the costume of Deadpool, one of the superheroes of Marvel, unveiled video, in which he thanked everyone who was related to his performance for the St. Petersburg club, and listed his main achievements in recent years. There were quite a few of them: four victories in the national championship, two victories in the Russian Cup, four more victories in matches for the Super Cup, as well as the status of the best scorer in the history of the country with 148 goals in the asset in addition.

Nevertheless, Dziuba refused to renew the contract with Zenit on new terms. According to the previous agreement, the Russian, according to Russian media, received about €4 million annually. And in the spring, the leaders of the blue-white-blue offered him, told “R-Sport”go for a threefold reduction in wages.

The striker, whose financial demands were higher, rejected the request of the St. Petersburg residents and decided to join Rubin for a while to keep fit in order to train there under the guidance of the club’s head coach Leonid Slutsky. But in the Kazan team, which after a disastrous season flew to the First League, the striker naturally did not want to play on a permanent basis. Interest in Dzyuba was also shown by foreign clubs competing in the Turkish Super League – Istanbul Basaksehir, Fenerbahce, Galatasaray. However, later, citing various reasons, they one by one abandoned their claims to the Russian striker. The Serbian “Crvena Zvezda”, which had been considering Dzyuba’s candidacy for some time, also ultimately did not want to sign him: the club said it was looking for a younger and faster player. The media wrote that Azerbaijan was also interested in the Russian, but Dzyuba’s trips to Baku did not lead to anything.

Adana Demirspor now looks like the main contender for the Russian, but whether the forward will agree to sign a contract is a big question.

The fact is that we are talking about a middle-class Turkish club, which finished only in ninth position last season and will not compete in European competition at least this year. There are also not very many chances that Adana Demirspor will finish the current season in the top three.

In addition, Artem Dziuba is likely to face serious competition in the Turkish club. Italian striker Mario Balotelli, nicknamed Super Mario, has been playing there throughout the year, having previously played in several top European clubs – Italian Inter and Milan, English Liverpool and Manchester City. Last season, he scored 18 goals in 31 matches for Adana Demirspor in the Turkish championship.

At the same time, the conditions that the Turkish team offered to Artem Dzyuba really seem very tempting. In addition, Ukrainian defender Yaroslav Rakitsky, the former partner of the Russian at Zenit, plays in Adana Demirspor. The striker had a rather warm relationship with him. The Turkish club signed a one-year contract with Rakitskiy with the possibility of extension for another season a month ago.

Ekaterina Remizova